Savior
by Glass Garden
Summary: Sakura tries to struggle with the fact that Sasuke is gone...Until she finds that he may not be as far as she thinks he is. SakuraxSasuke, if you don't like it, tough. R&R, pleeease? Thank you.


**Savior**

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in this story. Oo So DON'T YELL AT ME. If you read, please review. Otherwise, just die in a gutter. Okay. So, instead of Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi going after Gaara, this is kind of an...Alternative storyline. I guess, you could say. So, don't get all mad and be like "HEY, SAKURA CAN'T DO THAT, SHE'S ON A MISSION WITH NARUTO!" Alright?

"_He's gone. I'm sorry, Sakura-Chan…I've failed you…"_

Emerald green eyes were closed halfway as Haruno Sakura remembered Naruto's painful, sorrow-filled words to her years ago. The pink-haired shinobi sat in the solitude of a shady tree, reminiscing over what had taken place when she was still a Genin.

"Sasuke-Kun…" The name was a choked whisper, as if anything above the soft tone would shatter her entire world. That very name alone wanted to make the girl cry. Instead, she bowed her head in sorrow, her slender arms tightly wrapping about her lithe form. Tsunade had been quite worried about her, she knew this; she had been losing weight, and she rarely smiled anymore. With each passing year, she'd lost more and more hope about the dark-haired Uchiha heir coming back to Konohagakure. Even Naruto's corny jokes and tripping over himself hadn't caused her to smile even halfway. Naruto had given up on chasing after the girl, realizing that no matter what he did, she would only have feelings for Uchiha Sasuke. Her eyes closing, she remembered the discussion Kakashi had decided to take upon with her on day, shortly after Naruto had told her that he failed his mission and had broken his promise.

_ The sun was shining, but she only felt coldness around herself. It had been a few days since Naruto had explained that he had let Uchiha Sasuke get away. She didn't hate him for that, even though she had probably acted that way. Naruto hadn't been able to look her in the eyes since they spoke. As a result, their training with Kakashi had become strained, their tactics, or whatever little of them they had, falling apart. While Iruka spent a day at the ramen stand with Naruto, Kakashi had met Sakura in the training are of the forest. _

_ "Sakura. Don't hate Naruto for this. He tried his hardest, and he's just as upset about not being able to bring Sasuke back. Not only does he feel he let you down, but he lost a close friend. Even if they acted like they hated each other, they were closer than brothers." Kakashi had explained to her softly, his uncovered eye looking down at her seriously. Sakura could feel her shoulders slump beneath her sensei's gaze, and she slowly nodded, shivering softly as a soft breeze filled the air; it felt like the chill of death, to her._

_ "I don't hate him…" She began softly, her green eyes looking to the ground, as if she were ashamed to bring her gaze to the silver-haired Jounin. "I…I just want Sasuke-Kun back. I want him to be here, be safe…I hate not knowing if he's okay…"_

_ "Sakura…He'll be fine on his own. You're not his mother, so you don't need to watch after him all of the time." Kakashi paused for a moment, before sighing softly, raising one hand to rub the side of his head, before continuing cautiously. "I…I know how you feel about him, Sakura. But it will only get in the way of what you need to do. This crush. It's getting too out of hand. You can't waste your life chasing after someone and falling to pieces whenever he's not here--"_

_ "Just leave me alone." Sakura's words were sharp, causing the older man to blink in confusion. Sakura was never one to take up a tone with her sensei; in fact, she was kind of a suck-up. She'd always been the one to do what she's told, and rarely asked the motivation behind it. As soon as the words were spoken, the pink-haired girl turned on her heels, and walked away, leaving the Jounin to sigh to himself and debate what the next course of action would be._

That was years ago. Sakura was now eighteen, and she even though it seemed as if she were losing all hope of ever bringing the boy back, she had never been so determined in her entire life. Her training with Tsunade had brought out the strength in her, and she began to believe in her abilities more. She no longer felt like the damsel in distress, like she had begun in Group Seven. She was capable of carrying on her own now; and yet, she wanted to use her strength only to bring back Sasuke.

She watched as a soft breeze picked up in the air, blowing a few leafs from the tree, the foliage making its own silent, graceful dance as it descended upon the ground. Two leafs swirled down together, trailed behind a smaller, slower one; it reminded her so much of herself, fighting to try to catch up to Sasuke and Naruto. Every time she stood back, or said something was impossible, or told the other two that they should quit and go home, she felt bad; it was her own fear that had made her say those words. Even when she said "No, we have to run!", Sasuke and Naruto continued fighting, and prevailed over their task. Sometimes, it had shamed her to be able to take the glory of being in Group Seven, but Naruto and Sasuke had never complained about it; Naruto had too much of a crush on her, and Sasuke hadn't cared in the least as to who was glorified for their work.

"Sakura-Chaaaaaan!" The obnoxious, feminine voice came from beneath the tree, bringing her slightly out of her daze. The young woman looked down, sighing softly at the sight of her blonde former rival, Yamanaka Ino, draped off the arm of the ever-lazy Nara Shikamaru, who looked quite irritated at the moment. "Come on, Sakura-Chan! Shikamaru said he'd take us to lunch, his treat!"

"Hey, I didn't say anything about going to lunch or paying for _anything_!" Shikamaru protested. He yelped slightly as the blonde woman pinched his arm, and grumbled softly, rubbing at his skin. Sakura could just imagine what was going through Shikamaru's head. _How troublesome…_

"That's okay, Ino-Chan. You two can go ahead…" Sakura's reply was soft and emotionless, as her words had been for years. Ino looked up to the girl and frowned, before Shikamaru tugged on her arm and started to lead her away. Sakura watched them leave with dazed eyes, before sighing softly. Inside, she wanted to go with them. She wanted to laugh, and tease, and smile. She wanted to be friends with Ino again, after having spent so long being rivals with her.

_ I have to try. I can't let myself be miserable forever…I have to at least pretend to be happy…A shinobi can never let their true emotions show through. She sighed softly, and with one swift motion, leapt from the tree, landing on both feet gracefully. "Hey, Ino…! Wait up…!" She jogged after them, stopping only a moment to look over her shoulder; she sensed something. Or someone. Maybe it was just paranoia, but…It felt like someone was watching her from the shadows. It sent a chill down her spine thinking about it. She looked on into the forest, frowning. Slowly, unsurely, she turned, and continued to follow the other two shinobi, unable to shake the feeling that there had been someone there. Who? She didn't know. But it brought a bad feeling…_


End file.
